Javascript is a tool. The fact that it runs in a browser and on a server means that communication between the client and the server in a Javascript-based web application becomes a lot simpler. If you know how to use the tool, it will serve you well.
You can find things to gripe about in every language you'll ever work with. Javascript is available. Use it and contribute to it's community, or don't. Griping is not contributing. It doesn't solve any problems.
If you think Javascript could use improvement, write a library to help solve a specific problem or contact emca and report your problem/issue/idea-for-improvement.
Basically just stop complaining and start working. If you are of the opinion that Javascript is a horrible language that is bound to make your project un-maintainable and disgusting regardless of your expertise then choose a different language.
It's really a question about improving my workflow and improving my programming habits, in an effort to product quality code quickly.
Sometimes I'll get pulled onto different tasks abruptly and I don't really have a choice of when I get to switch, it usually happens only four or five times a day, so it's not a huge problem but it does interrupt the blocks of time I try to spend on other larger projects. I'm just wondering if there's any way to make the process of switching between projects easier?
How long did it take you to build this application, and in what ways do you expect it to grow in the next 5 years? What problem does this service solve?
I'm not confusing it with a CMS at all, it is a CMS. You can use it more as a framework, but as a framework it really kind of sucks when compared to Code Igniter or zend, or even Yii.
Not really, a CMS is good because you don't have to build the same thing multiple times. However, if you plan on using a CMS as a tool to create solid, scalable, efficient applications, you will need to understand how to use the CMS properly. Many times that means understand what the CMS is doing behind the scenes. Any good programmer should be able to code a project like Drupal, granted that would take time, but they should be able to do it without sweating too much. I get extremely tired of the noobs and click-monkeys taking of the drupal community. If you can't write your own decent CMS because you don't know how, you should find another job, and leave application development to people who can do it properly and give clients a product that is worth the money they payed.